Style Comes From Within

All women know this deep down.

It’s not the clothes, but the way you wear them.

Skin tight bodysuits and sparkly shoes do not make you a better dancer automatically, and “doing styling” does not look the same as dancing with elegance and style.

Just as you choose every part of your look down to shoes bag and make-up, every step and movement in your dancing needs the same intention and care behind it.

The bottom line is that your dance style has to suit you in the same way as your clothing style.

This is why cloning your favourite teacher – either in real life or on YouTube – will never work.

 

Styling Is Not Just Arms!

Many ladies automatically think about arms when styling is mentioned, however we can style with our whole bodies…including our heads, right down to our fingertips.

Every part of us contributes to the overall picture and if there is one weak link in our posture, then the whole effect can be lost.

This workshop will teach you how to take a whole body approach to styling from the feet/ground up, working on the details which make a massive difference to the way you look and feel on the dance floor.

Most of all this is about social dance skills – so you won’t be learning a complicated choreography you are unlikely to ever revisit.

It’s not about performance skills or rehearsing a routine for a show. Although the technique side of things is largely the same, there is a very big difference when you don’t know what’s coming next and are responding to the music and reacting to the lead in real time.

 

Dance Taller & Feel More Grounded

In the first section we will be optimising posture to make your movement more efficient. You’ll learn how to dance taller and own your space whilst feeling more grounded.

We’ll clean up footwork and I’ll show you some techniques which will instantly improve balance and make all your turns look better, as well as making it easier to dance in heels.

In part two we will discover how arm styling is really an extension of body movement and I’ll show you some exercises that will make your arm styling more integrated into your dancing, so your arms just flow with your movement.

We will work on how to transition your arms from one position to another and how to take advantage of free arms in partnerwork.

Countdown to Next Workshop

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Workshop Details

DATE: Sunday 30th july

TIME: 10am-2pm

PRICE: £60 per person

VENUE: Salsa Intoxica Dance School, Merrymeade House, Merrymeade Chase, Brentwood CM15 9FE

Why Learn From Me?

I know what matters and makes the most difference because I’ve gone through the process of working on my own style.

I’ve taken private lessons with top teachers, done a wide range of styling and body movement classes, and studied different dancers’ styles to learn exactly what makes them unique.

But I’ve also had to figure out a lot of stuff myself.

Like how to make yourself look good when your body doesn’t fit the stereotypical image of a Latin dance teacher.

Or when you are older than many of the younger female teachers and performers on the club and congress circuit.

 

My Salsa Styling Journey

If – like me – you didn’t start dancing at a very young age, it can be really disheartening when you know that your body simply won’t move in the same way, or reach the same positions as some of the female teachers at Salsa congresses.

But I can tell you that age is not a barrier to looking amazing on the dance floor.

I started out with terrible posture, a sway back and super tight hips and shoulders.

I had weak ankles which made dancing in heels really difficult.

My feet turned inwards which ruined the look of all my footwork and sabotaged my balance on turns.

I have a bone spur on my heel which made dancing in certain dance shoes really painful for a while and limited the amount of practice and social dancing I could do.

But where many ladies would have given up I managed to turn things around.

The thing which changed the game was taking responsibility for my own improvement, committing to daily practice, and finding the right exercises and practice drills which worked for me. 

I’ve strengthened my feet, ankles and core, improved my balance and posture,  dramatically improved my technique and can now dance without pain.

And I can show you everything that worked for me.

 

How I Can Help You

It’s likely you won’t be facing exactly the same problems I had.

It’s also likely you won’t be aiming to teach or turn professional.

This means that your journey doesn’t need to be as intensive as mine.

But you can still make big improvements to your visual impact, elegance and confidence on the dance floor using all the knowledge and experience I’ve gained over the years. 

I have a toolkit of drills, exercises and technique tips that will make a huge difference to anyone who puts them into practice.

In this workshop I’ve put them into a logical order which will allow you to progress smoothly through the material.

As with my classes, everything is there for a reason and serves a specific purpose.

There will be lots of repetition and practice with awesome songs for us to dance to and a break half way for some light refreshments.

And at the end you’ll have a selection of tools you can take away and practice with, as well as some classic set pieces which can be integrated easily into social dancing.

 

Follow Up Training

Now I know from my own experience it’s not the actual workshop which changes the game.

It’s what you do with it after the fact.

How you engage with the material you’ve learned, master and own the techniques by integrating them into your own dancing.

This is why people go to classes every week, go to all the best festivals and congresses, take class with all the top teachers, but you never see their dancing visibly change.

So here’s where I can REALLY help you.

Everything in the workshop will be available as a video course which you will have access to for a month after the event so you can practice and hone your new styling skills.

This, I promise you, is THE missing link.

And the best news?

It’s included in the price of the workshop!

 

Styling Is Musically Driven

Styling is intrinsically linked to musicality – at least it should be.

Salsa music has energy peaks and rhythm accents which actually TELL you when to put styling in.

The music also tells you WHAT kind of styling you might choose – sensual, dramatic, soft and feminine or dynamic and sharp.

Although this topic is covered in more detail in my musicality workshops, we will be looking at how you can better connect your styling to the music.